The Basics of Speech

Chapter 5: Communication and Yourself

Overview

The way you see yourself affects your communication. Communication affects your self-concept and self-esteem, and your self-concept and self-esteem affect how you communicate. Your self-concept is your picture of yourself. It is made up of four parts: how you see yourself, how you would like to be, how you think others see you, and how others actually see you. How you see yourself involves three sides of self: physical, intellectual, and social. The physical side of self includes how you look and how you use your body for physical activities. The intellectual side of self includes how you handle ideas, values, and beliefs. The social side of self refers to how you relate to other people.

Self-esteem is your opinion of yourself, which is based on your self-concept. You can improve your self-concept by evaluating yourself honestly, setting realistic goals, supporting yourself, and supporting others. To evaluate yourself honestly, you should review your limitations and strengths. Based on this information, you can set realistic goals. Finally, it is important to praise yourself and others for doing things well. By doing so, you will improve your own self-concept and the self-concepts of others.